July 21 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. auto industry, rejuvenated
after the government’s $80 billion bailout of General Motors Co.
and Chrysler Group LLC, is stepping up its lobbying and spending
on political donations as the White House moves to boost fuel
economy standards.

GM spent $5.5 million during the first six months of 2011
to try to influence Congress and federal agencies, up from $4.1
million in the same period a year earlier, according to lobbying
disclosures released yesterday. Ford Motor Co. spent $3.4
million in 2011, versus $2.8 million in 2010. Chrysler more than
doubled its lobbying spending to $2.4 million from $1.1 million.
Auto companies’ political action committees also gave more to
federal campaigns, Federal Election Commission reports show.

The White House is in talks with automakers on fuel economy
standards for 2017 to 2025. President Barack Obama’s
administration in June floated the idea of a fleetwide average
of 56.2 miles per gallon by the end of the period, up from 27.3
mpg now. That represents about a 5 percent annual increase.
Regulators’ final proposal is due in September.

“It is a life-or-death issue” for the automakers, James
Burnley, a former U.S. transportation secretary, said in a
telephone interview. “They have to use the usual tools to
educate decision-makers.”

The new miles-per-gallon mandate is the most important
issue for the companies since the first federal fuel-economy
standards took effect in 1977 because the requirements could
force them to build cars that consumers may not want to pay for,
said Rebecca Lindland, an analyst with consultant IHS Automotive
in Lexington, Massachusetts.

Earnings Effect

Reaching a 56.2 mpg average by 2025 would be “tough,”
said Mark Reuss, president of GM’s North American operations.

“It’s not an either-or thing; it’s how do you get there,”
Reuss said in Detroit in June. “It’s how you get there with
cars and trucks that customers really want to buy at a cost
basis that doesn’t put unreasonable cost into the car that
people don’t pay for.”

U.S. carmakers are trying to work with the government to
increase fuel-economy standards more slowly, at a pace they can
live with, rather than wind up with proposals that they’ll fight
later, Lindland said. Automakers have asked the administration
to reevaluate standards midway through the eight-year program,
saying the technology necessary for 2025 targets may not be in
place yet.

Cooperating, Not Blocking

That’s a change from the 1990s, when the car companies
helped block all efforts to set higher standards. The miles-per-gallon standard for cars has been the same since 1989, and will
only rise next year, when a 2009 regulation takes effect.

To buttress its lobbying force, Detroit-based GM, which
emerged from bankruptcy in July 2009, hired three new outside
firms this year, including Upstream Consulting, headed by former
U.S. Representative Matt Salmon, an Arizona Republican. Auburn
Hills, Michigan-based Chrysler, controlled by Fiat SpA, added
one new firm.

GM’s political action committee made $91,500 in donations
to candidates during the first six months of 2011 after keeping
its checkbook closed during the same period two years earlier.
The U.S. government owns 35 percent of GM shares following a
November 2010 IPO.

The PAC of Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford increased its
contributions to $223,500 from $128,000 from January to June
2009. Chrysler no longer has a PAC.

Not For Long

“An industry as all-American as autos won’t find doors
closed to them for long on Capitol Hill,” said Rogan Kersh,
associate dean at New York University’s Wagner School. “Auto
lobbyists had to tread carefully in Washington for a couple of
years after the bailout, but as business and profits are
restored, so is the industry’s credibility -- and clout -- with
lawmakers.”

Toyota Motor Corp.’s lobbying declined to $2.3 million
during the first six months of 2011 from $2.5 million a year
earlier, when the Toyota City, Japan-based company’s chief
executive testified before Congress about vehicle defects. The
automaker doesn’t have a PAC.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the biggest of
the auto trade groups, spent $3.9 million to lobby during the
first six months of 2011, up from $3.1 million during the same
period a year earlier. The group is seeking a chief executive to
succeed former Representative Dave McCurdy, an Oklahoma
Democrat, who moved to the American Gas Association.

Closer to Lawmakers

The Association of International Automobile Manufacturers
changed its name in January to the Association of Global
Automakers and moved from Arlington, Virginia, to downtown
Washington to be closer to decision-makers and its members,
Chief Executive Officer Michael Stanton said. The group boosted
its lobbying spending to $760,000 in 2011 from $640,000 in 2010.

And the American Automotive Policy Council hired former
Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, son of Republican Senator Roy
Blunt, as its new president. The group spent $97,500 to lobby
from January to June, down from $170,000 in 2010.

Ford, GM and Chrysler belong to both the policy council and
the Auto Alliance.

“There’s increasingly a sense that what happens in
Washington, D.C., is important in the auto industry,” said
Gloria Bergquist, a vice president with the Auto Alliance.
“That wasn’t necessarily the case, even as recently as a few
years ago.”